Underground mining machinery toy

ABSTRACT

A toy or scale replica of an underground toy miner for coal mining having movable parts includes a body having an upper surface and movable caterpillar treads and a plurality of rotatable wheels mounted to the opposed sides of the miner, a boom mounted to the upper surface and extending from the front to the rear of the miner, an endless conveyor mounted on the boom with the distal end of the boom being laterally movable, a bucket mounted to the front and having at least two inwardly rotatably collectors for moving material from the bucket to the conveyor and boom and a ripper head terminating with a cylindrical ripper pivotably mounted to the front of the miner and above the bucket for gouging and digging material out of the wall of the mine for deposition in the bucket and thence movement rearward by the collectors to the conveyor and boom.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to toy or replica reproductions of construction and industrial equipment and machinery, and more particularly pertains to toy and scaled replica reproductions of underground mining machinery.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Children's toys and games are as old as civilization itself. From simple handmade toys of cloth, sticks, and semi-precious stones common to all ancient civilizations to today's toys such as the popular Lego R building block sets, toys that require manual manipulation retain their popularity. Even with the advent and widespread popularity of video games, from handheld video games to interactive video games played by multiple players over the internet with the players spread across geographical regions, manually manipulable toys that represent various types of vehicles, structures, equipment, and machinery in the actual world, are still popular and perennially profitable for the toy and game industry. Indeed, toys that represent or exemplify vehicles can range from cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, ships, airplanes, helicopters, emergency rescue vehicles, farm equipment and machinery, racecars, tractor-trailers, and construction and industrial equipment and machinery. The following patents disclose toy sets or individual toys of the above described kind—with a notable exception being mining equipment, and especially toys representing underground mining machinery and equipment.

For example, the Daenen patent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,692) discloses a car and boat toy with removable parts wherein the removable parts include body axle and wheel parts as well as the toy body members that are disposed within the vehicle portion of the toy.

The Hendry patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,312) discloses a toy vehicle in the form of a miniature vehicle that includes a replaceable hood.

The Goldfarb et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,468,884) includes a miniature toy vehicle driven at three axes and which is electrically powered and able to climb over rough terrain, obstacles and up steep inclines.

The Shiraishi patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,040) discloses a construction toy set that includes a variety of component parts comprising, in part, bases, houses, auxiliary members and male and female connecting elements.

The Reiling, Jr. et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,700) discloses a toy combination resembling a tractor-trailer that includes a self-powered unit with driven wheels and a trailer with non-driven wheels.

The Pohlman patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,072) discloses a construction toy set for assembling a steerable toy vehicle wherein the toy vehicle is fabricated from a plurality of construction toy elements linked by a plurality of interlockable couplers.

Nonetheless, there remains a need for toy or scale replicas or reproductions of machinery and equipment especially pertaining to machinery and equipment used in underground coal mining.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprehends a toy or replica of equipment and machinery, and more particularly a toy or replica of underground mining machinery equipment such as toy or miniature miner. The miniature miner includes a number of moving parts to enhance the verisimilitude with the actual machine.

The miniature miner includes a body having a front and a rear, an upper surface and opposed sides. Mounted on the upper surface is a pair of headlights. Mounted to each opposed side is a rectangular-shaped tread plate, and each tread plate has a plurality of lights mounted thereto. Disposed inboard of each tread plate, and protected by the tread plate, is an endless caterpillar tread that is directly supported on a plurality of adjacent and aligned wheels. The wheels on one side can be connected to their opposite number by axles, or the wheels on both sides can be individually secured to the chassis on their own axis; and the rotation of the wheels causes the caterpillar treads to turn thereby resulting in the locomotion of the toy miner. Mounted on the upper surface, and extending from front to the rear, is a movable boom. The boom includes an endless conveyor belt that is supported on and, in the real-life version, rotates about the boom for transferring material dug from the mine walls to other equipment or structures for eventual conveyance out of the mine. The boom is comprised of a plurality of interconnected segments, and as the boom extends toward the rear, the boom is inclined upwardly away from the upper surface of the body of the toy miner and extends laterally and upwardly past the rear of the miner. The distal end or segment of the boom is able to laterally pivot or swing left and right, and the boom itself is movable up and down away or toward the upper surface of the body of the toy miner. Attached to the front of the body of the toy miner is a bucket or scoop, and mounted to the inside of the bucket is a pair of cross or t-shaped collectors. The collectors rotate or turn inward toward each other to move material onto the conveyor and boom. Extending from the front of the body of the toy miner, and positioned above the bucket, is a ripper head. The ripper head is capable of selectively pivoting up or down to reach and dig out material from the wall of the mine, and mounted to the distal end of the ripper head is a cylindrical ripper covered with teeth for gouging, digging and directing material to the bucket and collectors and thence to the conveyor and boom.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery that includes moving parts to showcase the type of underground equipment used to mine coal.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery to show the general public the various types of underground mining equipment and machinery used to mine coal.

It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery that includes a booklet that explains the functions and operations of the piece of machinery.

It is still yet another objective of the present invention to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery that demonstrates the processes necessary to mine underground coal.

Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery that can be die cast or manufactured from a plastic composition.

Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery for making such vital equipment and machinery used for underground coal mining more widely recognizable to the general public.

Still yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery wherein an entire line of mining machines can be represented as toys or scaled replicas.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery that is both fun and educational.

These and other objects, features, and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a perusal of the following detailed description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the underground mining machinery toy or scaled replica thereof illustrating the primary features, parts, and components of the mining machinery toy;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the underground mining machinery toy or scaled replica thereof illustrating the various dispositions of the ripper head and the boom with the conveyor belt;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the underground mining machinery toy or scaled replica thereof illustrating the operation of the collectors with respect to the conveyor belt;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the underground mining machinery toy or scaled replica thereof illustrating the lateral movement of the boom;

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the underground mining machinery toy or scaled replica thereof illustrating the underside of the toy and the slidable on/off switch;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the underground mining machinery toy or scaled replica thereof illustrating the information booklet that accompanies and explains the purpose and functions of the particular piece of mining machinery exemplified by the mining machinery toy; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the underground mining machinery toy or scaled replica thereof illustrating the basic mode of operation of toy.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Illustrated in FIGS. 1-7 is a toy or detailed and scaled replica of equipment and machinery pertaining to mining operations, and, more particularly, a toy or scaled replica 10 representative of underground mining machinery, specifically representative of an underground miner. The underground miniature miner toy 10 includes a number of movable parts to enhance its verisimilitude to the actual miner, and can be manufactured from plastic or as a die cast product.

As shown in FIGS. 1-5, toy miner 10 includes a body 12 having a front 14 and a rear 16, an upper surface 18, a bottom surface or chassis underside 20, and opposed sides 22. Mounted to the body 12 on the upper side 18 are is pair of spaced-apart headlights 24 to provide light in dark and narrow mining tunnels. In addition, mounted to each opposed side 22 of the body 12 of the miner 10 is a rectangular-shaped tread plate 26, and mounted onto each tread plate 26 are a plurality (generally three) of spaced-apart lights 28. Disposed inboard of each tread plate 26, and protected by the respective tread plate 26, is an endless caterpillar tread 30 with each caterpillar tread 30 being supported on and encompassing a plurality of adjacent wheels 32 with the wheels 32 for each caterpillar tread 30 being aligned in the same vertical plane. Each caterpillar tread 30, and the wheels 32 associated therewith, rotate as one unit; and, further, both caterpillar treads 30 rotate in unison or as a unit.

As shown in FIGS. 1-5, a boom 34 is mounted to the upper surface 18, and the boom 34 extends from the front 14 of the body 12 to the rear 16 with a portion or segment of the boom 34 extending rearward past the rear 16 of the body 12. The boom 34 includes an endless conveyor belt 36 that is completely wrapped about the boom 34 for conveying material cut and/or dug from the mine therealong from the front 14 to the rear 16 of the miner 10. Material is then conveyed from the conveyor belt 36 and boom 34 to other pieces of equipment and machinery such as a shuttle car for eventual transport up out of the mine. The boom 34 is comprised of a plurality of interconnected segments, and the present embodiment includes at least three segments 38—at least two of which are moveable. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the two most rearward located segments 38 are movable or adjustable in an up and down direction to or away from the upper surface 18 of the miner 10; and, further, at least one segment 38 of the boom 34, the distal segment 38, is laterally pivotable in the left and right direction relative to a longitudinal axis 40 of the body 12 that extends through the miner 10 from the front 14 to the rear 16. These movements allow the boom 34 to be more easily positioned relative to other equipment such as the shuttle car for transferring material thereto with regard to the actual underground miner.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1-5, attached to the front 14 of the body 12 of the miner 10 is a bucket or scoop 42, and mounted to the inside surface 44 of the scoop 42 is a pair of rotatable cross or t-shaped collectors 46. The collectors 46 rotate inward toward each other to direct material gouged and dug from the wall of the mine to the conveyor belt 36 (and boom 34) for eventual transport out of the mine. Mounted to and extending from the front 14 of the body 12 of the toy miner 10, and positioned above the bucket 42, is a ripper head 48. The ripper head 48, as shown in FIG. 2, is capable of selective pivotable movement up or down for reaching and digging and gouging out material from different locations on and along the wall of the underground mine. Attached to the distal end 50 of the ripper head 48 is a cylindrical ripper 52 completely covered by radially extending teeth 54 which are the elements that actually engage and cur the wall(s) of the underground mine. The cylindrical ripper 52 turns and rotates on a rod or axle 56 that mounts to the distal end 50 of the ripper head 48. Material cut and dug out from the wall of the mine by the teeth 54 of the cylindrical ripper 52 falls downward into the bucket 42 whereupon the inwardly turning collectors 46 collect and push the material onto the conveyor belt 36 for transference therealong to other equipment and machinery such as a buggy or the shuttle car. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the toy miner 10 can also include a booklet 58 that explains the parts, functions, and purposes of the toy or replica miner 10 thereby educating those that have purchased the toy miner 10 and/or play with the miner 10. Located on the underside 20 of the miner 10, as shown in FIG. 5, is a battery compartment 60 for housing the power source (one or more batteries of various sizes), and an on/off switch 62. The batteries power a simple, conventional direct drive motor 64 encased within the body 12 of the miner 10 with the motor 64 being interconnected to the sets of wheels 32 for both caterpillars treads 30. FIG. 7 illustrates a general schematic 66 that illustrates engagement of the motor 64, or, in the alternative, the non-engagement of the motor 64 with the consequent manual manipulation 68 of the toy miner 10

While the invention has been described by a detailed description of certain specific and preferred embodiments, it is understood that various modifications and changes can be made therein within the scope of the appended claims, and which are intended to include equivalents thereof of such embodiments. 

1. A mining machinery toy, comprising: a body having a front and a rear, opposed sides, an upper surface and an opposed lower surface; a pair of tread plates with each tread plate mounted to each opposed side of the body; a pair of endless caterpillar treads with each caterpillar tread disposed inboard of each respective tread plate; two sets of wheels with one set of wheels encompassed by one caterpillar tread and the other set of wheels encompassed by the other caterpillar tread whereupon the sets of wheels and the caterpillar treads rotate together; a boom mounted to the upper surface and extending rearward past the rear of the body; the boom selectively movable up and down away from and toward the upper surface of the body and the boom including a distal segment that is laterally movable left and right with respect to the body; an endless conveyor mounted on and extending about the boom; a bucket mounted to the front of the body; a pair of collectors mounted inside the bucket with each collector inwardly rotatable toward the other collector; a ripper head mounted to the front of the body and positioned above the bucket with the ripper head movable up and down away from and toward the bucket; and a cylindrical ripper rotatably mounted to ripper head with the ripper including a plurality of teeth radially disposed about the ripper.
 2. The mining machinery toy of claim 1 further comprising a plurality lights that are mounted to each tread plate.
 3. The mining machinery toy of claim 2 further comprising a pair of headlights mounted to the upper surface of the body and facing toward the front of the body.
 4. The mining machinery toy of claim 3 further comprising a motor housed within the body and actuated by an on/off switch located on the underside of the body. 